Chapter 20: Enjoy Outer Space
Chapter 20: Enjoy Outer Space
"Trismegistus thoughtfully transferred you into this land after you'd become residual thoughts." Leff explained returning to his calm smile. "You had no aptitude for Rayshift while alive, right? You can't teleport while you have a physical body. Can't you understand? You only gained the aptitude you so desired after you died. That's why you can't return to Chaldea. The moment you do, your consciousness will vanish."
Olga froze. "Wh-what? I'll vanish? I can't return to Chaldea?"
Her hands trembled in disbelief.
"Indeed, but that's too sad of a story for you." Professor Leff raised a hand and a golden jewel appeared in his hand, shining. "Let me show you the fate of the Chaldea that you devoted your entire life into."
His hand absorbed the jewel and then he snapped his fingers. Behind him a circle opened up, showing what looked like a sun surrounded by several rings.
"Wh-what is that?" Olga asked with difficulty. "That's not real, right? That's just a virtual image, right, Leff?"
"But it's the real thing. I linked space-time together for you." The demon raised his hands as if he were praying. "With the Holy Grail, even this is possible."
Everyone was stunned at the object's capabilities, which could make such an action seem like child's play.
"So take a good look, scion of the Animusphere family. This is the fate of your family's lunacy." With a toothy grin, he pointed a finger at Chaldea's Director and she glowed with golden light.
Olga Marie began to float and move in the direction of the miniature sun.
"Hey, what are you..." she asked terrified. She tried to struggle, but she couldn't help but be dragged away.
"As this is the end, I'll make your wish come true. You may touch your treasure." Leff explained ominously.
"What are you talking about? Stop it, that's Chaldeas!" She continued to struggle, growing stronger as she finally realized the situation.
"Yeah, it's no different than a black hole. No, it would be more appropriate to say the Sun." Just as he finished these words, several [Gandr] were shot towards him by Rin, who was the only one in the group who could attack from a distance.
However, Leff easily dodged it.
"Heh, there seems to be someone fierce in this little group you've assembled. Still, you won't be able to avoid her fate. If a human touches Chaldeas, they will be split apart on a molecular level." He took a moment to stare at Rin as Olga continued to scream. "I trusted that Saber could prevent you from reaching me, but at some point, she disappeared without telling me anything, it seems that she couldn't resist the urge to fight, I expected more from her mettle."
"I'm sorry, but I'm afraid that was my fault." Leff blanched when he heard a voice coming from behind him.
Before he could react, a hand was placed on his shoulder and he felt the world spin.
"Excuse me for being rude, I'm in a bit of a hurry. Enjoy outer space, I searched this world specifically for you." Julius wasted no more time and disappeared again, leaving a disoriented Leff who could only move quickly to protect himself from the void.
The magus appeared again in the singularity and pointed his hand at Olga Marie.
'He did something like ...' A golden glow once again illuminated Olga Marie's body and she stopped for a second before she began to fall to the ground.
"Director!" Ritsuka yelled, trying to go save her, though Mash was faster.
The pink-haired girl came running to the spot and jumped up to grab Chaldea's Director. The latter was breathing heavily, it was clear she was hyperventilating.
"Director breathe calmly! Please!" Mash exclaimed in order to bring her back to reality.
It seemed to work, as she slowed her breathing little by little.
"No, no. Leff... that must have been another person, Leff would have never done something like that to me." She kept repeating that Leff would never do something like that.
"Director..."
Ritsuka had also reached her side. "Don't worry, we'll think of a way to fix your body."
"That's impossible for you." Julius walked over.
His trick had been simple. He took Leff to another world and then used [Blink] quite a number of times and extremely quickly to bring him within two hundred kilometers of the Earth's surface. Leff couldn't react as teleporting wasn't exactly a pleasant experience. The bastard wouldn't die, but he'd have a hard time getting back to Earth, let alone back to the singularity.
"What do you mean? Can't you do something?" Ritsuka seemed desperate.
'Truly, an anime main character.' Julius thought sarcastically. He denied it with his head. "Right now there's nothing we can do for her, but I know a way."
Olga was still in denial, and she didn't listen to anything they were talking about.
The others were quickly deluded by the magus' words.
"Her condition can only be restored by a true miracle." Julius revealed. "That is, we need a user of True Magic. And not just anyone, but a user of the Third True Magic, Heaven's Feel."
The joy dissipated instantly.
"That's the only way..." Mash muttered in disbelief.
This reaction was common. True Magic was a legend for good reason. All the magi in the world worked and investigated with the shared goal of reaching Root and acquiring the ability to generate miracles beyond science. Even so, the number of Magicians could be counted on the fingers of one hand.
"So... we really can't help her?" Ritsuka asked Julius.
"I told you I have a plan." The magus smiled for a moment and looked at Rin. "Saber has sent me a message, we can go home."
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In the next chapter, I will explain why MC has not received any messages until now. It seems that we consider the end of the atmosphere at 100 kilometers from the Earth's surface, outer space begins there.